Search results for "Porcellio"
showing 2 items of 2 documents
Is activated hemocyanin instead of phenoloxidase involved in immune response in woodlice?
2008
In the Common woodlouse Porcellio scaber (Crustacea: Isopoda: Oniscidea), experimental immune challenge did not induce the expression of pro-phenoloxidase that, in most other invertebrates studied thus far, can be activated into phenoloxidase via an activation cascade upon immune challenge. Instead, Porcellio hemocyanin proved to exhibit catecholoxidase activity upon activation. However, none of the activating factors known from other invertebrates other than SDS-treatment resulted in activation of hemocyanin into a functional phenoloxidase in vitro. The distinct characteristics of isopod hemocyanin are reflected by the quaternary structure of the hemocyanin dodecamers that differs from tha…
The gut microbiota structure of the terrestrial isopod Porcellionides pruinosus (Isopoda: Oniscidea)
2020
We used a combination of culture-dependent and independent approaches to study in depth the microbial community associated with the digestive tract of the terrestrial isopod Porcellionides pruinosus (Brandt, 1833). Specimens from different sampling sites in Tunisia harbored distinct microbiota profiles indicating the impact of both host origin and environmental factors on shaping the microbial flora within P. pruinosus. Our results revealed unexpected bacterial diversity especially via metagenomic analysis; a total of 819 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) assigned to two major bacterial phyla; Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. We used Nutrient Agar to isolate the cultivable fraction of bac…